Kevin Moffatt
10/30/13 E
Guiding Questions: Election of 1800
1. Why was John Adams selected as the Federalist candidate in 1796?
John Adams was selected as the Federalist candidate in 1796 because Hamilton, who was the
ideal Federalist, had made too many political enemies, and had a higher chance of losing than
Adams did. Since the Federalists wanted to have their man as president, they realized it
would be more beneficial to have Adams ran for the Federalists, because although he wasn’t
as politically savvy as Hamilton, he had a better chance of winning because he hadn’t made
enemies, and would do better in the polls. Also, Adams, who had been the VP under
Washington, had not been directly associated with the unpopular Federalist measures, and
was seen as a moderate, and therefore stood a better chance of getting elected, so as a result,
the Federalists selected him to run for president.
2. What circumstances led to an administration with a Federalist president and a
Republican vice president?
Before 1800, each person only had one vote for the president; the vice president was whoever
came in second. In 1796, a void between the two Federalists running (Pinckney was Adams’
running mate) created this situation. Because people who voted for Pinckney didn’t want to
vote for Adams and an even larger amount of Adams supporters refused to vote for Pinckney
Adams only barely beat out Jefferson (by 3 electoral votes) and as a result Jefferson became
vice president because the Adams supporters did not vote for Pinckney.
3. What caused the "quasi-war" with France during the Adams administration? What
was the result of this struggle?
The Quasi war was somewhat caused by French ships capturing American ships during the
period of Revolutionary France, where no one really had control, but it was mostly caused by
the XYZ affair. Adams sent three diplomats over to negotiate with France, but France
demanded a loan and bribes for all the officials, to which one of the diplomats, Thomas
Pinckney (brother of the guy who ran for president) replied “No! No! Not a sixpence!”
When Adams heard of this, he sent a message to Congress denouncing the French insults and
urging preparations for war. He turned over a report of the American diplomats, but deleted
the names of the three French agents and designated them only as “Messrs. X, Y, and Z” –
which was an insult to the French, and created widespread outrage at the French. As a result,
all trade was cut off with France, and American vessels were authorized to capture French
armed ships. The American Navy actually won a few battles and eventually France chose to
reconcile with America before the war grew. Napoleon Bonaparte established new trade
arrangements, and as a result of the quasi war, America had freed itself from a perpetual
alliance with France.
4. How did the Federalists attempt to silence those who opposed the undeclared war, and
what groups did these attempts most affect?
The Federalists attempted to silence those people by passing the Alien and Sedition Acts,
which limited what people could say criticizing the government, and placed new obstacles to
foreigners wising to immigrate to the US. The Alien act most affected immigrants and
foreigners by making them feel unwelcome and alien. The Sedition acts most affected
Republican journalists that could be targeted as a result of criticizing the government (only
10 were ever arrested on this charge).
5. Why weren't the Alien and Sedition Acts declared unconstitutional?
The Alien and Sedition Acts weren’t declared unconstitutional because at the time, the 11th
amendment hadn’t been passed, and the judiciary branch did not have the power to declare
acts or bills unconstitutional. Before the 11th amendment, which defined the jurisdiction of
the Supreme Court, the judicial branch had no right to declare acts unconstitutional, so the
Alien and Sedition Acts couldn’t have even been declared unconstitutional at the time.
6. What gave rise to the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions? What attitude toward the
nature of the federal government did these Resolutions reveal?
The Alien and Sedition Acts gave rise to the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. It was
Republicans’ way of fighting back at what they saw as a Federalist attempt to destroy them.
Jefferson wrote the Kentucky resolution anonymously, and Madison wrote the Virginia one.
Although the resolutions were not passed throughout the country, they did nullify the acts in
Virginia and Kentucky. These acts revealed that many people believed that in the acts, the
federal government was breaking its compact or contract to serve the people (John Locke
ideals) and that their should be more checks and balances on government.
7. What were the key issues in the 1800 presidential election? Why was it called one of the
dirtiest presidential campaigns in U. S. history?
The key issues in the 1800 presidential election was how much power the central government
should have, how the society should be economically: Federalists wanted a strong,
mercantile, international economy with a central bank while Republicans wanted an a society
based on self-sustenance and small farmer agriculture (Jeffersonian ideals). It is considered
one of the dirtiest presidential campaigns in US History because although Adams and
Jefferson themselves were dignified, their supporters were pretty dirty. Federalists accused
Jefferson of being a dangerous radial and his followers being wild men who would bring a
reign of terror like the French Revolution. The Republicans claimed Adams was a tyrant
trying to become king, and claimed the Federalist wanted to subvert human liberty and
impose slavery on people. And the election even got personal: the Federalists supporters
came up with the story of Jefferson’s alleged romantic involvement with a slave woman on
his plantation.
8. Even though it looked like Jefferson had won the 1800 Presidential election outright,
what complications emerged that endangered the Republican victory?
It emerged that in order to avoid a tie between Jefferson and Aaron Burr (the Republican vice
presidential candidate in 1800), the Republicans had planned to have one elector to refrain
from voting for Burr, but the plan went wrong and Jefferson and Burr tied. The House of
Representatives had to choose between the two leading candidates, and finally Jefferson was
elected.
9. How did the Judiciary Act of 1801, passed by a lame duck Federalist Congress, create
future problems for Jefferson and the Republicans?
This created future problems for Jefferson and the Republicans because it gave the
Federalists a stronghold in part of the government, and as a result of the different checks and
balances, although the Federalists had lost the presidency, they maintained the judicial
branch.
10. Why is it called the "Revolution of 1800?"
It is called the Revolution of 1800 because Jefferson himself used the phrase to describe his
election. It represents a shift from Federalists held office and a country dominated politically
by Federalist views to a country in control of Republicans. This change in power of politics
is considered a revolution because it is a change in power (which is the definition of a
revolution). The change from a government dominated by Federalists to one controlled by
Republicans resulted in a shifting of power, which is why the election of 1800 is referred to
as the “Revolution of 1800”.